Christy Mihos on Principles & Values

On being a spoiler: How can you spoil a rotten system?

Q: Why shouldn't you been seen as a spoiler?

MIHOS: Maybe she's going to spoil my election. But how can you spoil a system that's rotten? I mean, take a look at Massachusetts. We are the laughing stock of the nation on the Big Dig because both the
Democrats and the Republicans have been taking special interests' money for the last few years and looks what's happened. We've had two deaths in those tunnels, we've paid well over $15 billion for a project that we can't properly use.
When I was getting fired by Jane Swift, because I took on big business, big government, big labor, and big business, and spoke truth to power- both [parties did nothing]. People are just fed up with both of these parties and that's
why they're checking out. People are checking out of politics, because they can't deal with it any longer. And an independent will speak truth to power.

Not just passing through Massachusetts, like some governors

I love this state. That's the only reason I'm running for governor. I just can't take the way it's being managed right now. And I'm the only one on this stage here tonight that is from Massachusetts. I'm not just passing through like so many other
governors that have gone before us. This state means something to me. It's been my home for 57 years. I was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. I went through the public school system here in the Commonwealth. I built a business here. Everything I have is
here. This is my home. Massachusetts is worth the fight and right now, we've decimated the middle class here and people are moving out in record numbers. Christy's Proposition One will show you how I'm going to put a cap on property assessments
and get more local aid back to your cities and towns. Massachusetts is worth the fight and for those of us who call it home and always will, I'll be there to fight for you.

I represent 50% of voters; no difference between Dems & GOP

Massachusetts voted for McGovern over Nixon & the only one in the country to do so too. So they understand what's going on here. But lookit, I represent 50% of the registered voters here in the Commonwealth. The minority party is 12% Republicans. People
are checking out because what the Republicans are selling people aren't buying. The Democrats used to be well over 40%, they're down now to 36%. People are leaving these parties because there's not a dime's worth of difference between the two of them.

Ran for State Senate on South Shore in early 1990s

Q. It's a little bit forgotten, but you ran for state Senate down on the South Shore. And it was a closely fought race, and you lost. Can you talk about that experience?

A. Well, I'm glad I did it certainly, and the best thing that ever happened
to me was losing, because certainly back in 1990, 1991 the economy really just went into the tank, and I was able to focus back on Christy's, and I was able to get through some real tough times when a lot of my peers in the business went bankrupt.
I think I answered questions [in the campaign], not in a political manner, but it was yes, no, I'm for this, I'm not for that, and I was a young rookie at the time certainly.

Q. So now you would be answering questions in a far different way?

A. Look, I've had a lot of experience. When I got into the Turnpike Authority I was about 6 foot 2. Now I'm 5 feet 8. I got my brains beaten in by your paper and a couple others in the city. But I've learned a lot. I've learned what this is all about.

Source: Interview in Boston Globe by NECN's Jim Braude
Apr 26, 2006

Supported Romney to create viable two-party system

Q. You are seen as someone who [was] very much behind Governor Romney's election or sort of reentry into Massachusetts politics. You commissioned a poll and triggered a lot of momentum for Romney, and then it seems like that wasn't repaid to you
in terms of loyalty from Romney.

A. Well, certainly at the time, we all watched him open up the Olympics without a hitch and all. I knew him from his senatorial run, certainly. But if you're looking for credit or loyalty in this business,
get a dog, basically. When [Romney] was focused that first year and a half, I thought he was hell on wheels. I thought he was really going to make a difference here; he was going to build the Republican Party so we'd have a viable two-party
system, but it didn't happen. I say this all the time: There must be a seat-ejection switch in that governor's chair, because as soon as they sit in it, pow, they want to get out, and I've never understood it

Source: Interview in Boston Globe by NECN's Jim Braude
Apr 26, 2006

Ran for State Senate in 1990; lost Republican primary

When Bob Hedlund picked up the phone at his Weymouth home last weekend, Christy Mihos, a Republican who is running for governor, was on the line. Well, not Mihos really, a recorded version of him being sent out to other registered Republicans.

Mihos introduces himself in the message and explains he is a long-time and loyal Republican now running for the state?s top job. Thing is, he hasn?t decided yet whether to run against Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey in the GOP primary or run as an Independent.

Hedlund, a Republican state senator from Weymouth, didn't have to listen carefully. He was almost unseated in a 1990 Republican primary - by Christy Mihos.?I didn?t need the introduction,? Hedlund said.

Source: The Patriot Ledger (opinion page)
Jan 28, 2006

The job has not been done by Romney/Healey administration

State GOP officials have unsuccessfully tried to divert Mihos to a U.S. Senate race against incumbent Edward M. Kennedy instead. But Mihos is committed to either running against
Healey in a primary and, if necessary, running as an independent:

But if the party won't make room for him, Mihos said he will beat his own path as an Independent in his pursuit of the
Corner Office. 'We are keeping all our options open at this point until it becomes clear that we can or cannot get into the convention as a Republican,' said Mihos.

And what does Mihos think of the job the Romney/Healey administration has done? "I just think that the job has not been done by the Romney/Healey administration."

Source: Kimberly Atkins, Boston Herald
Jan 10, 2006

"Game on", but maybe as Republican or maybe independent

Christy Mihos, a convenience store magnate and former member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Commission, filed papers with the state establishing a bank account for use in a gubernatorial campaign."It means game on, I guess," Mihos said.
The millionaire refused to say how much money he put into the account.

Mihos, a registered Republican whose family founded the Christy's convenience store chain, said last fall he was considering a campaign for governor but would wait for Gov.
Mitt Romney to announce whether he was seeking re-election. The governor announced Dec. 14 he would not seek a second term.

"In deference to the governor, we did nothing until he announced. And now we're filing what we have to file,
and now we're meeting with folks and bringing on the people we need," he said. "We'll get there, just more turtlelike than the others." Mihos has yet to announce whether he will run as a Republican or as an independent.

Source: Associated Press in Boston Globe
Jan 6, 2006

Contested GOP primary, or independent outsider candidacy

The knock against Mihos is obvious: yes, he got some things right when he was on the Mass Pike board-- but does that qualify him to be governor? "His best asset, far and away, is money," says one skeptical Republican strategist. "It starts to get fairly
thin after that." Among Democrats, meanwhile, the possibility of a Healey-Mihos primary contest has generated some enthusiastic off-the-record responses. This is partly due to the prospect of seeing two Republicans beat the sh-t out of each other, a
pastime that's usually reserved for Democrats in this state. But genuine interest in Mihos's ability to mount a freewheeling, outsider candidacy ? … la John Silber or John McCain ? also seems to be a factor. "He?s very candid, very honest,
very forthcoming," gushed one Democratic insider. "He's not your typical timid politician, and people like that quality about him.... The fact is, he is an attractive, valid candidate." With enemies like this, who needs friends? Adam